Ballarat House

In creating this purposeful family home, Kennedy Nolan adopted a holistic approach that played to the strengths of its unique and coveted site, whilst cleverly ameliorating its restraints. Overlooking a lake as well as a road, the design response would ideally enhance the water views, mitigate the street views, all whilst creating a greater layer of privacy within the home. Their clever solution to the conundrum of outlook versus privacy? To elevate the front of the house a half-level, build a garden berm up to terrace level, then optimise the garden height with decorative grass plantings.

The architecture and the interiors are a contemporary celebration of mid-c20th sensibilities, anchored by a large stone fireplace to emphasise the concept of hearth and home. “The intention is that the family will put down deep roots here and the passage of time will burnish the house as the natural materials age and patinate, the walls are engulfed in vines and the tree canopies join in a green dome,” says Patrick Kennedy. “We undertook the architecture and interiors including furniture and furnishing as we would feel that we had failed if we weren’t able to make a building where the architecture and interiors are indivisible, where there is no distinction in terms of sensibility and expression.”

In the spacious bathroom, a central freestanding tub is enveloped in a cocoon of Fibonacci's Rocketman. “The pale blue of the terrazzo was chosen because it is a material that met all of our design requirements, says Patrick. “Firstly, we wanted a surface that could be used on both floor and walls so that we could achieve a ‘carved-out’ appearance, and we also wanted to generate a gentle, watery atmosphere which relied on subtlety of hue.” Known for their sensitive colour-mastery, Kennedy Nolan’s pairing of materials created a superbly nuanced scene. “Because terrazzo is comprised of marble chips and tinted matrix, colour is complex, textured and subtle and even intense colour sits comfortably with timber and stone, which we also like to use for their natural qualities of infinite grain and un-repeated pattern.”

The self-propelling nature of design and creation is writ large with this project. “My obsession with terrazzo continues to grow as designers use our products,” says Michael Karakolis, Founder of Fibonacci. “Seeing their projects come to life in endless ways with our products only compels me to do more – to create more. It’s a real buzz when somebody compliments you on your creation, through their creation.”